Ferrari will not appeal Leclerc/Verstappen incident

Ferrari will not appeal the stewards’ decision not to penalize Max Verstappen for his overtaking move on Charles Leclerc that decided the Austrian Grand Prix.

Verstappen passed Leclerc down the inside into Turn 3 with three laps remaining, but having got alongside there was contact between the two that resulted in Leclerc taking to the run-off area.

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The stewards investigated the incident but decided no driver was wholly or predominantly to blame for the contact and took no further action -- something team principal Mattia Binotto disagrees with.

“The obvious question, what’s our opinion, there will be no further action compared to the accident and the investigation,” Binotto said. “What’s Ferrari’s opinion and position? We still believe that this is a wrong decision, that’s our own opinion.

“We believe that Charles leaves the entire space, he had no fault, a collision has happened and he has been pushed and forced off the track, so we believe these are clear rules which we may appreciate or not. And these are exactly the same rules which have been applied in past races.

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“Having said that we respect fully the decision of the stewards. They are the judge, we need to respect that, and more than that, as a Ferrari fan -- and I am the ultimate Ferrari fan -- I think it’s time for F1 to turn the page and look ahead. As we often said we should leave drivers free to battle.

“So we may not be happy about the decision, we are not supporting the decision but somehow we understand the fact we need to move forward and overall that’s good for the sport and good for F1. So bravo to Verstappen, the victory of him -- he did a fantastic race today. Charles as well -- Charles drove very well, but there will be new opportunities.”

Binotto also confirmed the team would not be looking to challenge the decision, following a request to review Sebastian Vettel’s penalty in Canada two races ago.

“We can appeal, we may somehow have intention of appeal tonight and appeal later on but it’s our decision not to do it, as we said it’s good for the sport to turn the page and to look ahead.”